Dr. Laura Cortes-Franco

I am a Mexican citizen and immigrant with a work permit that has previously worked for the Mexican government in the United States. I have also worked with the migrant children crossing into the United States to help reunify them with family members. I’m an Industrial-Organizational Psychologist with a Master’s in Counseling that happens to have first-hand experiences as an immigrant (student and employee), as well as experience working with the immigrant community at different levels and from different governments. I also have a “Diplomado en Primeros Auxilios Psicológicos para Personas Migrantes, Refugiadas y Desplazadas” issued by the Secretaría de Educación Pública of México. As an educator, I use my experience as a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient to encourage my students to invest in themselves. After receiving my Ph.D. at 27 debt-free, I started my own consulting company. During my time working at the General Mexican Consulate in San Antonio, Texas, I managed many Mexican government-funded assistance programs and repatriated many Mexican Unaccompanied Alien Children (UCs). In this regard, I have also managed the reunification of UCs while working as a bilingual case manager under the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.